By now you probably know that John Rahm just capped off a completely unforeseen comeback to win the Tournament of Champions and to take home an insane $2.7 million. Hats off to him, he turned what was supposed to be a boring final round into a fascinating last few hours of golf .With that being said, I could start this recap one of two ways:
- What a choke job by Collin Morikawa!!
- How about that final round by John Rahm?!
Out of respect for both, I’ll opt for the latter.
John Rahm began his final round Sunday 7 strokes back from leader, Collin Morikawa. As an avid golf bettor, I should’ve known better than to count out the Spaniard. In fact, after Saturday’s round I said to my buddy, “there is absolutely no way Collin Morikawa doesn’t win this tournament”. Hand up, I was dead wrong.
Nobody was better than Rahm today, he was locked in for 17 holes (bogied the 1st) in route to a 63 (-10). Rahm chipped away on the front nine, firing a 4 under, 32. The tide really took a turn on 15, where everything seemed to be clicking for Rahm, coming off of 3 birdies in a row. This is where he rolled an 11 foot eagle putt into the back of the cup, to tie a struggling Morikawa at 26 under.
You hear it all the time, it’s incredibly difficult to win on the PGA tour. Surely, major champion Collin Morikawa would sleep fine Saturday night with a 7 shot lead and close out the Sentry Tournament of Champions in style. Nope – Morikawa just had one of the biggest melt downs in recent memory. All seemed well for Morikawa as he opened the day with a birdie on the first and two more on the 4th and the 6th. In fact, there wasn’t a single bogey on his card all week. That was until the back nine on Sunday. As a viewer it was hard to watch, the nerves had caught up with Morikawa. He bladed a bunker shot and chunked a chip like your buddy at the local municipal, proceeding to bogey 14, 15 & 16 (three of the easiest holes on the course this week).
Morikawa birdied 18 to get back to 25 under, but to no avail, Rahm had already slammed the door closed with a birdie of his own, to finish solo first at 27 under par. It really was a great week of golf for Collin Morikawa, although I am concerned that 3 hole stretch could haunt him well into the future. Kapalua, thank you for the scenic views and another outstanding Tournament of Champions.
Betting wise, the Loon boys did alright!
The first event of the year and the first event back for a lot of these guys always makes it tough for us as bettors.
Top 10’s:
Loon Magz: Tom Kim +180, CASH.
Tom Kim came to play this week. Although his Sunday started slow, his game came around on the back nine to cash that top 10 bet.
Loon Beast: Collin Morikawa +125, easy CASH.
This was a lock. I said it in my prior write up, this course sets up perfect for Morikawa and if his putter gets hot he could win.
Matchups:
Loon Magz: JT to beat Finau -140, L.
JT just didn’t have it this week, plain and simple.
Loon Beast: Rahm to beat Scottie -125, CASHHHHH.
Rahm was the favorite for a reason, not even Master’s champion Scottie Scheffler could stop him from winning this week.
Outright Winner’s:
Our outright picks downright stunk. My pick, Justin Thomas (+1000), truly was never really even close. He made a few birdies like he always does and even an eagle on Sunday, but a handful of bogies and 3 doubles eliminated his chances of winning. On the other hand, Loon Magz had Patrick Cantlay(+1000), who really never got it to click this week either.
After 1 week:
Loon Magz: -0.2 units
Loon Beast: +3.5 units
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